A clinical trial at the Moores University of California San Diego Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, will evaluate a new surgical device which may spare healthy breast tissue during lumpectomies.  Besides seeking the most immediate  benefit to the patient, surgeons are hoping the device will make only one operation per patient necessary and will allow, instead, for more radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Already approved by … read more »

PACS systems or review stations don’t always correctly display and measure lesions on magnified images, even though they have FDA approval. That’s according to a small study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Currently the FDA has approved eight digital mammogram systems. However, none of the literature on image quality among these systems addresses measurement accuracy, … read more »

Annual screening with both mammography and MRI seems to be a cost-effective way to help high-risk women live longer, says a new study published in the March issue of Radiology. The findings support current screening recommendations by the American Cancer Society.

“For women at the highest risk of breast cancer, using both breast MRI and mammography together for screening will likely … read more »

A recent Avon Foundation for Women survey confirms what some experts have feared: States are using U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) mammography recommendations to deny women coverage for mammograms, and many women are foregoing mammography care based on the USPSTF recommendations.

According to the Avon national survey of cancer health educators and providers, respondents from more than a dozen states … read more »

Breast cancer rates have dropped over the past several years, but mostly among white women who are well off, says a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Analyzing data from the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result (SEER) database, Harvard researchers confirmed their theory that breast cancer incidence from 1992 to 2005 fell only among white … read more »

A new study confirms: Practice makes perfect when interpreting mammogram screenings, and fellowship training can make a difference. The study comes from Seattle researchers who compared mammogram screening interpretations by radiologists with and without fellowship training.  Their findings are published in the December 2009 issue of Radiology,

Using data from the National Cancer Institute, researchers identified 231 radiologists throughout the U.S. … read more »

Some elderly women with dementia may be getting regular mammograms even though the screenings may never do them any good, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Depending on a woman’s overall health, the risks of mammograms and subsequent procedures can sometimes outweigh the tests’ benefits. Because of this, the American Cancer Society and other … read more »

Using preoperative sonography to evaluate axillary lymph node classification in breast cancer patients can help predict the spread of cancer and may reduce the need for sentinel node biopsy, Korean researchers have found. Their work appears in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

In the study, researchers analyzed 191 sentinel lymph nodes in 191 women with invasive … read more »

Palpable breast tumors that appear benign should have short-term interval follow-up, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

While previous studies have looked at the outcomes of non-palpable breast masses, little has been known about those that are palpable, leading experts from the Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) to recommend against short-term interval follow-up for … read more »

Annual mammograms should begin at age 40 for women at average risk for breast cancer and by age 30 for women at high risk, say experts from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI). The recommendations challenge controversial guidelines given earlier by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Last year, the government advisory panel … read more »